Five Minutes
by Alexander Delacroix
Summary: He didn't want to admit it, but Hazama was bored. The typical day at the NOL doesn't fill a need he couldn't quite find the words for. In his boredom he found himself often visiting Relius. The man was cold and his attention was hard to keep, but Hazama would be seriously damned before he stopped trying to get just a little more out of him. (18 and up, yaoi warning, I own nothing.)


There was always a plan, but at points along the way reckless impulses sounded so good. Calculation and careful control of the players left a dull ache at the end of the day after ages of doing all the tiny, irritating tasks that led up to a big one. It might as well have been the very same day over and over. It probably was after awhile.

A little bit of the irony wasn't lost on Hazama. Brimming with power and carrying a full course plan to change absolutely everything and yet here he was, typically doing desk work and passing out benign orders to other officers like any other government hound. The dissonance between twenty-four hours and endless years of easing the time line to a sweet spot put a rattle in his skull that was generally filled by the commanding being taking up residence in their body. Terumi's body, apparently.

At the end of a shift of work he did mostly just to keep up appearances as an official captain, Hazama found himself wandering. He didn't give himself a full goal or any place he really needed to be, but instead let whatever forces guide him. Aimlessness wasn't a look he felt suited him and yet the call had some appeal. The tracks of a daily grind existed to be toppled off every so often perhaps. It wasn't like he took a lot of breaks or vacations or days off. Time out of the office mostly consisted of kicking beehives to keep things in motion. A few brief moments for whatever consisted of himself surely didn't hurt. Or rather, they shouldn't, but his absent course guided him to perhaps the last place to go for any kind of relief.

His fingertips stalled over the door handle that would take him into Relius' lab. Or more specifically, it would lead him into an office that would lead him into a library that would lead him into a hallway that would lead him into the cover lab for the actual lab another three doors deeper. He twisted arm and wrist together to peek at his watch. At this hour Relius would have already retreated deeper into the labyrinth of work spaces to where he would ultimately expect to be left alone. The man did love his work time and space. The deeper in he worked, the more like it was that he wouldn't even acknowledge Hazama's existence if he made his way in. His determination to enter wavered.

Fingers wrapped around the handle still. A thought struck his mind with the kind of clarity he didn't expect to get this zoned out.

I must really be bored.

He turned the handle.

We should look into getting another hobby, shouldn't we?

He let himself in.

Less of a wandering spirit now, his footsteps carried him with more purpose—a familiar clack against immaculate tiled floors. He passed the sea of bookshelves meticulously curated by Relius—as if he had time to spend reading them all. How he retained everything he knew and kept adding to it left Hazama with questions but never as many as Relius would have about Terumi openly on a bad day. Relius was an impressive individual—one they could easily throw their lot in with. Hazama couldn't speak it aloud in words, but it was something he felt always teasing the tip of his tongue and clenching around his throat—he could trust Relius, for one reason or another. He could never gauge if that sensation was born of something out of Terumi or some left over sentiment from being built by that man.  
Hazama felt a shiver as he strolled from door to door—no sign of the man in question just yet. What a strange thought to have, just as he had every intention of testing that trust—or whatever else would have been more appropriate to call it. Why press it? Why test the limits of whatever leash Relius was willing to have him on? But he could certainly test that limit. Any other being would have easily already been chased out of his lab for purely just being this annoying—showing up unannounced, not necessarily wanting to talk business, getting in his personal space. Hazama had a personal kind of access no one else was getting—at least not any more.

His lips curled into a more curved smile, a hungry feeling riding the edge of his scattered thoughts.

I want more.

One hand hooked into the knot of his tie, starting to loosen it, the other hand pulled open the last door in the series of blockades. Relius couldn't live with his nose in his work forever—not if Hazama had any say in the matter. Realistically, he didn't, but it was fine to live in a different world for a moment. Relius liked experiments anyway—what was one more, surely?

Hazama let himself into the final lab where he found Relius seated at his desk there, filing through his own notes and putting things in order. That he wasn't in the middle of handling something dangerous was a good enough sign for Hazama to shut the door behind himself and carry on to the desk.

"Relius, how good to see you here," he began in a friendly and familiar tone. He had no intention of playing captain-and-colonel. Not while in this deep.

The movement of Relius' head signaled he had at least glanced at him, but didn't intend to afford him anything else. Relius was like that with most; although, they didn't usually even get the sense of a glance. Maybe Hazama just knew him well enough to recognize a look through the mask where others might not.

Once he reached the desk, Hazama took a seat on a clear edge of the frame, making himself plenty at home in the process. Relius didn't look over this time—instead continuing to organize notes.

"It should be no surprise that I am working," Relius answered finally with some emphasis on "working."

"Of course, but you're always working. You're surprising no one. I'm just glad I didn't have to go off to some other little spot of your's," Hazama said pleasantly, almost. He placed one hand on the desk and leaned a bit more Relius' way. "It's like you never stop."

Hazama's gaze wandered over Relius' figure, his back straight in his chair, gloved hands thumbing through pages as he needed, an aura of control and complexity hovering around him—the same as always. There were still moments he wasn't sure he understood Relius at all. If he could get even inches closer maybe he could see that piece he felt he missed.

Without realizing it he'd leaned in much closer in Relius' way. He meant to be annoying, but perhaps not so quickly. Relius ignored him—he was very good at ignoring him, but he had to shift his papers over slightly so Hazama wasn't blocking his view.

"I have plenty to do. There's no reason to stop," Relius said with some attempt at finality that Hazama would ultimately ignore. If he didn't get kicked out finally he would consider himself very lucky.

"You can work and chat a little with me. I know you can handle it. You are a genius after all," Hazama said in a tone that would almost be confused for friendly and nice. That edge that screamed he was testing Relius' patience wouldn't be hidden. Being obvious or straightforward didn't come easily Hazama, but his willingness to wait and duck around this all evening wore thin. How many times had they done this little song and dance? This could have been the ten thousandth time for all he knew anymore. After years and years and years over again, he could afford to push harder. If Relius hadn't ditched him now, he wouldn't over this slight.

Relius caught on to that difference from the usual quickly enough, his posture shifting slightly as he tipped his head away slightly, shoulders rolled back. He rested fully in the chair, papers and work secondary to Hazama for a brief moment. Hazama seized that chance and leaned in a little more, mouth running like it tended to do.

"Don't you get sick of this? Researching and working all the time? You make it sound like it would kill you to stop," Hazama half-joked, his lips finding a way to smile as always.

Relius' gaze seemed to bore into him—mask or no that kind of intensity was hard to miss. It was just one of those things Hazama got used to—the kind of look he got when he was being studied or worse being checked over for some perceived imperfection. Something must have grasped Relius' notoriously difficult attention to keep.

"You have free time of your own too, Hazama. Find some hobby or something to do with yourself," Relius said after a silence that ran far too long to be even slightly forgivable in any other person.

Hazama sank slightly. Was he so obviously bored to everyone else? He let out a hard sigh. "That's pretty harsh, Relius. Is it so bad to want to spend time with my partner?"

Relius set one hand at his chin, actually considering the question seriously it seemed. It didn't take so long for him to answer.

"Possibly. I don't invite you here."

"But you don't kick me out either."

"I have no reason to push you out."

"Then let me stay!"

Hazama hadn't realized what he had blurted until the words left his mouth. Usually he was more guarded, more careful, cautious with every word that inched its way out of his mouth. Something about Relius put him at ease—it didn't matter so much. That ache to play, toy, and tease with him got the better of his usually more calculated judgments. He trusted Relius with this much—that his mouth ran and the resulting words put him on the spot.

Unexpectedly, Relius' lips cracked into a slight grin. Trouble echoed in a usually far less amused voice. "Are you that desperate, Hazama?"

"Desperate?" Hazama gawked, in absolute disbelief. "That's ridiculous. I'm not desperate about anything."

"Lonely then? I thought you had Terumi keeping you company all this time," Relius continued, no care for Hazama's denial.

"That is a different issue! I don't even know where you're getting this from." Hazama felt a little flustered. Was Terumi supposed to be enough company? A man he shared absolutely everything with all the time? That was a far different circumstance than just "company."

"You've come by specifically to either waste my time or attention. And you seem to think I am not going to throw you out for it. That sounds like someone who's either bored or desperate," Relius replied with the same ease he explained any scientific fact. Hazama briefly dedicated a second to hating his tone and his stupid confident grin.

"I get a kick out of bothering you, is that so impossible to believe? Why are you assigning it nasty words like that?" Hazama shot back at him, drawing back slightly.

Or at least he tried to draw back, Relius caught him by his tie. The grip wasn't too tight, but enough to surprise Hazama into a freeze. "Do you really want my attention so badly, Hazama?" Relius asked in a lower voice, something about that sounding dangerous.

"I'm not desperate," Hazama said instead, his own voice quiet, hesitating now that they were a little closer. What had he been thinking coming in here in this state? What more was he going to be able to afford out of a man like this?

Relius kept grinning. "You wouldn't know what to do if I paid you that much mind."

He had to stop floundering like this. There was no way he was going to let himself be pulled around by Relius—especially if he was just going to go back to being a cold ass as soon as he "won" this small engagement. They had skirted around this long enough. Hazama regained his composure and found a grin to give him in return. He leaned into Relius' grip, coming closer to face to face with him, half laying across his desk at this point.

"You never give me the opportunity. You might find you like it more than working all alone," Hazama said, words a little more honeyed. He knew full well Relius was beyond falling for his usual tactics—a shift in tone and a look his way wasn't going to cut it. A great risk, he reached over, fingertips brushing by Relius' cheek, slipping by a little of his hair to rest gently at his shoulder.

"You have five minutes," Relius said almost flatly.

The answer threw Hazama off so far he could only stare at him at first. Once he found his tongue again he could only get questions out. "I have five minutes to...?"

"Convince me I might like to give you more opportunities. My time is precious, Hazama. I refuse to waste it if you intend to do so."

For those first few seconds, he had no clue what to do. He never expected to just be handed the reigns like this. Relius merely rested back in his chair, letting Hazama's tie go. Panic struck briefly. Was this actually happening? Had he really done enough differently to warrant this change?

Panic and confusion subsided in a few seconds as his face found a more pleased smile. He could do a lot with five minutes. His fingers curled around where they'd stopped at Relius' cloak and he leaned in a little closer. "More than enough time," he muttered.

The next pause was a short one. He could still back out, run and laugh this off like any other time they tangled just a little closer. But one gear in the machine ground to a halt at his earlier thought. A rumble for "more" tore another hungry hole through his thoughts. If he had one chance to really push this, it was right then. Relius almost looked expectant for it. Had he had enough of this as well?

Caution thrust back, Hazama pressed in the rest of the way—lips seeking Relius' for a heated exchange. Excitement spiked in the first few seconds as Relius returned the motion—inviting more even as one gloved hand came to rest at Hazama's hip. He was going to get far more than five minutes.


End file.
